It may come as a surprise to most church pastors, but FACEBOOK LIVE is completely inappropriate for churches.

Why? Simple. It’s an R Rated environment that church members (especially children) should not be subject to. Would you conduct a worship service in a bar and invite children to attend? Of course not! Then why in the world would you invite online viewers to Facebook Live in order to watch your church service, when they are surrounded by inappropriate links, ads, messages, posts and R-rated live streams?

Just today I logged onto my personal Facebook account and noticed the “news feed” had articles about politics, religion, sex; and none of them had good or biblical principles. My eyes were inundated with liberal/progressive streams-of-thought by folks not following morals and values held by me, my family and my church. And worse yet, by one simple ‘click’ of the mouse, Facebook Live was launched and my screen filled with horrible live streams from around the world, including swearing, scantily clad women, sex talk and other inappropriate content. Imagine that your daughter or grandmother is watching these things on a Sunday morning. It’s that bad out there. My advice is “Don’t get caught up in the idea that you’ve got to use this secular technology provider to reach people. Not true. There’s plenty of alternatives out there to host your live streamed church services.”

Sure, Facebook Live is convenient and ‘free’ but ask yourself, “How much does FREE really cost you?” If just one person is invited to your church’s Facebook live stream and gets distracted (or attracted) to someone else’s live broadcast filled with rants against the government, swearing, sex talk or worse, then it’s ALL not worth it. The risks are too great. In fact, 98% of all Facebook Live streams are deemed by some to be Rated R in content.

There are many alternatives to host your live stream instead of Facebook. There are Christian owned and operated companies that host live streams for churches around the globe. Seek them out (www.worshipchannels.com) and get connected with a reliable company that provides church streaming in a safe online environment.

Author: Shawn West is a church technology expert and President of Worship Channels. For questions please email; shawn@worshipchannels.com or call 1-509-981-6883

People often ask me this question, usually followed by a comment quoted from their pastor who says, “I don’t want people staying home and not coming to church. Won’t they stay home, if they can watch in their pajamas and slippers? There are many answers to the question, but my research and polls have found that the driving force behind people’s desire to view church online is wide and varied. Here’s just a few of the most common reasons:

The 5 top reasons to provide live streaming are:

1) Young couples who have just moved into town will watch a live stream church service an average of 6 times before stepping foot in the church building.

2) Streaming is an effective way for existing church members to stay connected with membership.

3) Providing an alternative for those who have odd work schedules or who travel frequently for work or play (snow birds).

4) For those who are sick or infirmed.

5) For the elderly who can’t leave home (shut ins) or those living in an assisted living environment.

Also, if folks are like me, when a child in the family is ill it is impossible to bring them to church and drop them off at the nursery because you don’t want other children at the church to get sick too. So, the most likely situation is that one (or both) of the parents stay home from church as well to take care of the little one. With a live stream of the church services, the parents can keep up with what’s with going on in the church family as well as enjoy the sermon from the convenience of their home computer or mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, Droid, etc.).